


Not Even Us

by LawnNinja



Category: Inside Out (2015), Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, Bullying, Gen, Joy just wants to do his job, KH through the lens of Inside Out, Ven and Vani's emotional makeups are ... complicated, vaguely implied child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 07:02:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15137717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LawnNinja/pseuds/LawnNinja
Summary: When Sora patches up Ven's heart and (accidentally) gives Vanitas a face, he restores something else the two were missing. For Vanitas, it's Joy and Sadness.Anger, Disgust, and Fear are not pleased with this development.





	Not Even Us

"I dunno, Joy. I ... I don't think they like us," Sadness mumbles. He self-consciously runs a hand through his hair. It's spikier and longer and much darker than everyone else's except Joy's, just as spiky and long as his and a shade of brown that's barely light enough not to be black. It's ... _wrong_. He doesn't know about other minds, but something inside him knows that in this one they're all supposed to look more or less the same.

Joy smiles at him, his glow only slightly dampened by the chilly reception they received. "Maybe they've just been on their own too long. They probably need some time to get used to us, that's all." He wraps an arm around Sadness' shoulder and hopes he's right.

 

Joy and Sadness never knew the light, or the loss that left Vanitas' Headquarters cloaked in darkness, so they don't truly understand why his other emotions are this ... hostile. The first time Joy touches the controls, Disgust slaps his hand away. They start arguing, Sadness tries to defend him, and Anger is naturally quick to jump into the fight.

Fear tries to get their attention, but none of them notice until the Fight-Flight alarm starts blaring.

"Great, just great! You guys know I can't keep the Unversed under control by myself!" Fear shouts, throwing up his hands as the controls glitch out and shut down. He and Anger practically lean on the button - the last functional thing on the panel - but even that fails after a few seconds. Vanitas stumbles and clutches his head in pain as a circle of the creatures closes in.

Their view blinks out. "Nice going, loser!" Anger snarls at Joy, shoving him to the floor. "The Master's gonna discipline him now."

"I - I just -"

"You're just a _replacement_!" he yells, spitting the words out. "We don't need you, so stay out of our way!" He stomps away with Disgust right behind him, waiting near the controls for Vanitas to wake up again. Fear gives Joy a look that almost seems sympathetic, but he doesn't even try to help him up.

Sadness glares at Fear until he looks away awkwardly. He kneels down and lets Joy cry on his shoulder, closing his eyes so he doesn't have to watch his only friend's glow dim to almost nothing.

 

By the time Ventus and Vanitas fight one last time, Joy hasn't glowed at all in years. Anger staggers back, leaving only Sadness and Fear at the failing controls, watching the X-blade float away.

In the last few seconds before Headquarters falls apart completely, Joy sets his hand next to Sadness' on the button. His glow is faint, barely strong enough to leave a tiny sliver of yellow in the last memory they create.

"I know we didn't want it to end like this, but at least no one can hurt him anymore," he whispers as everything fades away. "Not even us."


End file.
